As mentioned in a previous blog, my wife and I recently purchased and fitted some a couple of new bowling balls. My wife got a 14lb Hammer Jigsaw, which is the latest ball from Hammer. Meanwhile, I purchased a 15lb Brunswick Siege, the latest ball from Brunswick. We were gonna take our balls to the same guys that had done all our drilling since we started bowling here, but they kinda sounded like they were a little busy, so we ended up going down to Pikeville, KY to get it done. I have to say, that was the smartest decision I’ve made in regards to bowling. Norman really did a good job of fitting me and took the time to make sure the fit was comfortable. There are still a few small issues with lateral pitch in the thumb (I think I need a little more to the right, or is it left?), but its nothing to complain about. I’ll just get them fixed the next time I get a ball fitted.
Anyway, back to the point at hand. I ordered the Siege because I was looking for something that was a little more aggressive on the backend and this ball really has delivered. In fact, it’s delivered a little too well.
I had the ball drilled for a strong continuous arc and a strong backend. Unfortunately, the way Fugate’s is oiled there is a flood of oil down the middle of the lane, then the pattern quickly dries out as you move to the outside. What’s more, the oil is put down in strips up the lane for 30′, then its buffed out to 40′, so there are very distinct differences in oil volume between boards 1 – 5, 6 – 10, 11 – 15 and 15 – 20 (least to most). What this means is that the best way to play the pattern is to get the ball out to the 5 board at about the 35″ mark. This will allow the ball to start recovering towards the pocket before it hits the backend.
Now, I don’t consider myself to be a high rev bowler by any means. Having said that, I get enough revs to get a fairly decent backend reaction of all of my equipment. Having previously owned a Columbia 300 Arch Rival and a Brunswick Twisted Fury Pearl, I had become accustomed to standing at about the middle of the lane (foot on 23 to be precise) target at 9 with a lay down of about 18. This allows the ball to get through the heavier oil in the middle of the lane through the heads, and start to recover before getting out to around the 5 board. Then once it hits the backend, the ball makes a nice strong move to the pocket. If I play the same line with my new Siege, I get through the heads, and see the midlane recovery I was looking for, but the ball really responds hard to the dry boards, often over shooting the pocket and going Brooklyn. I’ve also found that if I do hit the pocket I tend to leave a lot of stone 8’s and 9’s which is a problem I’ve never really had before.
Obviously, to remedy this situation, I’ve started to move in a bit more starting with my feet at around 28 – 30 and a lay down of about 25 – 23. I’m targeting at about 12 which again gets the ball out to about 5 before it starts making a move back to the pocket. The danger with this angle, however, is if I miss by more than a board to the right the ball ends up in the gutter, so I don’t really have very much margin for error. On the flip side, if I miss to the left by more than a board or two, the ball never gets out to the 5 board making for a less pronounced backend reaction leaving me with big splits and washouts, which are never fun to shoot at. I could move back to the right a little and get a little firmer (more speed) but I’m still not that proficient at controlling speed very well, so I may end up over doing it, leaving the same splits and washouts.
I’m still learning how to use this ball and to be honest, I’m actually enjoying the challenge of learning how to tame this beast. In the end, it could be a case of the ball just not matching up to my style on the pattern and surface we have at Fugate’s, but I really want to give it a chance and see what happens. The new Fall league starts in a week, so I have a few more practise sessions available before I decide whether or not I will use this ball as my first ball or not.
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